Changing attitudes to speeding offences

Slow down: a survey by Allianz found that 65 per cent of drivers admitted speeding on motorways and 38 per cent on dual carriageways

Drink-driving was (almost) socially acceptable once but you won’t get any sympathy if you admit doing it today. It’s a good example of how opinion can be shaped by publicity campaigns based on evidence — evidence that drink-driving kills.

But how about speeding — is that still acceptable? It gets a far more mixed response. A survey from Carrot Car Insurance found that one-fifth of drivers admitted to speeding, while insurer More Than found that 43 per cent admitted driving over the 70mph motorway limit.

A more detailed survey by insurer Allianz found that 65 per cent of drivers admitted speeding on motorways and 38 per cent on dual carriageways. The number who admitted speeding in 20mph zones fell to 11 per cent, with eight per cent admitting doing so in built-up areas.

Their figures show that only one in three motorists believes a driver travelling in a 20mph zone should only be punished if they are 10mph or more over the limit, even though 20mph speed limits are often near schools, hospitals and residential areas for obvious safety reasons. However, no one’s happy when motorists flagrantly speed down their road. Which is presumably why figures recently released by the Institute of Advanced Motorists, revealing the number of overseas visitors who drive over here and get away with speeding, prove more controversial.

The IAM research reveals that overseas drivers have escaped 23,295 speeding offences since January 2013 — the equivalent of £2.3 million worth of speeding tickets. The figures emerged following a freedom of information request to police authorities, asking how many overseas motorists had been caught by speed cameras across England and Wales. As foreign vehicles are not registered with the DVLA, these offences aren’t pursued.

The highest number of overseas speeders were in the Thames Valley, with 3,580 offences. Should we be concerned? The IAM says we should.

“The high numbers of overseas speeders on our roads show how important it is that the UK joins up with the rest of Europe to harmonise motoring offences and give the police extra powers to pursue dangerous drivers,” says IAM’s director of policy and research, Neil Greig. “Progress on this issue has been very slow, and in the meantime thousands of drivers are avoiding fines and bans simply because their cars cannot be easily traced.”

He’s right. UK roads can’t really be safe if certain motorists can drive as they like, with little chance of being brought to book. But what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, and France doesn’t much care for Brits leaving all sense behind on the ferry and storming along their autoroutes or back roads at high speed either. It means we’re going to have to accept that our fines should follow us home from holidays in France, Germany and so on, too.

Under an EU directive (2011/82/EU) on cross-border enforcement, that’s exactly what will now happen. Covering eight key road safety offences — speeding, seat belt use, red light running, drink driving and drug driving, helmet use, use of forbidden lanes and mobile phone use — negotiations are now under way at a European level to implement the changes, and a final implementation date for the UK is expected to be set for 2017. But only after UK attempts to opt out were finally derailed by Brussels.

The campaign against speeding seems less clear-cut than that against drink-driving but that, too, was a grey area 50 years ago. It won’t be too long before excessive speeding — especially in inner-city areas — will seem just as anti-social as enjoying “one for the road”, before swerving home.